SJ Parkinson

*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Stephen Anderson is an insurance investigator for Worthor Corporation and he’s very good at his job, saving his company millions of dollars in claims as he solves cases involving missing items. He’s just retrieved the stolen mask of King Tut (earning a cool 5 million) and he doesn’t know it yet, but it has brought him to the attention of some dangerous characters from his past. His real past, not Stephen Anderson’s past. The life he’s built for himself starts to crumble and he needs to call on friends both past and present to save the woman who has jumpstarted his heart. It’s a dog eat dog world and Stephen has no intention of wearing Milkbone underwear.

Picking up where Mask of the Pharaoh ends, this story is action-packed from beginning to end. I had to take off one bite for believability (some of it was just way too much ~ no, I’m not saying what as that would be a potential spoiler) and that ending (not so much a cliffhanger as an obvious lead into the next book), but for the most part I enjoyed the crap out of this one. After reading two books in this series I don’t know why I’m so surprised at the intelligence and ingenuity of Anderson. He was wasted in his position in the French Foreign Legion. I’m glad his life took a vastly different turn. And if you don’t understand what I’m talking about then you seriously need to go back and read books 1 & 2 in the series. I love that favorite characters return, too.

There are several threads in this story that seemingly don’t make sense, but in the end they do. All things are connected. Like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Want a thriller that gives you an exhilarating ride from beginning to end? Then this is the one for you.… (plus d'informations)

4.5

*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Sergent Étienne Martin is a Non-Commissioned Officer in the French Foreign Legion stationed at a remote Algerian base. He’s an excellent soldier while on duty and a mean drunk when he’s off. Luckily he has a friend who keeps him out of trouble because the commanders at this base are unforgiving. All Martin wants to do is make it through the last three years of his service. After that, who knows? But he never gets a chance to figure it all out. It’s brought to his attention that millions of Legionnaire Euros are being used to feather someone’s nest. Bringing it to Colonel Rochon should have solved the problem, but Martin is so very wrong. Stay and die or run and be a deserter? Death isn’t acceptable, so run it is. If he survives the desert without dying or getting caught he’ll need to plan what to do next. And for once, fortune favors the bold.

For those of us who read The Legionnaire: Mask of the Pharaoh this is an excellent look into Stephen Anderson’s past and I, for one, enjoyed every minute of it. For those who have yet to read the book mentioned above, I suggest you read this one first for a more linear timeline.

Unlike Mask, this isn’t a mystery so much as a thriller. I know the 4 W’s and the H, what I don’t know is how Martin is going to deal with this knowledge. As he escapes across the desert the tension is nerve-racking. The villains, Rochon and Rodin, are truly hate worthy, a perfect foil for the hero Martin, his friend Paul and the investigator assigned the case, Lieutenant-Colonel Vigneron. There are several threads that come together as the plot progresses. Martin runs across an incredible amount of good luck for someone who hasn’t been particularly lucky in life to date, so I did have a tiny bit of trouble suspending my disbelief. However, for the most part this is one thrilling ride!… (plus d'informations)

Twinkle by S. J. Parkinson is a very highly recommended thriller which incorporates a military novel with science fiction.

Sir Marcus Brandon is a multi-billionaire and acknowledged as the richest man in the world, so when he decides to spend a large chunk of his fortune to promote his new Global News Network, GNI. "Global News International will speak the languages of more than half of the globe’s population of seven billion. GNI will also broadcast through the Internet with subtitles and text feeds in several other languages. This will truly be the first global news service, and broadcasts will premiere tomorrow, July fourth.”

The show Brandon promises to celebrate the launch of GNI is truly something spectacular and worthy of his hubris. He announces to the world that starting over Shanghai at ten p.m. their time, "pre-positioned satellites will drop fireworks from orbit. As the Earth rotates, each time zone will see the same show, beginning at ten p.m. I’m assured that the light show will be unlike anything ever seen before. We’ll be setting three world records in the process. It’ll be the largest and most expensive pyrotechnic show ever staged—and the first firework display staged from orbit.”

As promised, every hour a different time zone experiences a fireworks display that fills the whole sky with a never-before seen display. People across the globe are out watching the display. At the same time a more nefarious plan is being put into action. See, Brandon took bids for his one-of-a-kind display and the Chinese won the bid to put the show into orbit. Unknown to Brandon it was also the perfect opportunity for them to put into action a planned invasion.

In a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist party, a member declares, “Sun Tzu once said, ‘To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.’ As we execute this endeavor, we should keep this in mind. I find it amusing that this ignorant Englishman is not only providing us with a perfect cover for delivering our warheads, but also paying for the operation in its entirety.” But he goes on to make it clear that they, the Chinese, will be essentially launching an attack against the whole world, although they will publicly be complaining about North Korea.

So, while national defenses around the world become less attentive as they continually detect the heat signature of a missile taking off somewhere every hour the fireworks display goes on, forces in the USA notice "a twentyfold increase in chatter from several Chinese military units along the North Korean border. At the same time, we have activity at several large airports in the Hubei, Henan, and Jiangxi provinces." It seems easy to believe the aggression will be between China and North Korea - until the real problem becomes clear.

The next day, after the fireworks show (where the #twinkle crashes twitter) everyone who watched the show loses their sight. And the Chinese launch a massive invasion of the USA. It is now up to a few people to try and stop the Chinese and find a cure for the mysterious blindness.

At the beginning, with everyone who was watching the nighttime show being blinded, Twinkle really reminded me of The Day of the Triffids. This isn't a bad thing because I love all movie/tv versions of the novel. Don't allow yourself to stop there and stereotype Twinkle as a sci-fi novel based on a well-known previous work. From that point, Twinkle takes off on its own direction. There are a large number of characters and stories that eventually dwindle down and converge into telling what is happening with a few characters.

I found Twinkle to be a perfect thrill-ride of escapism that should especially appeal to those who like military fiction. On a personal note I appreciated the fact that S. J. Parkinson doesn't "incorporate overt sex, profanity, or extreme violence in any of my writing. I prefer the story to be the main focus..." Bravo and well done! The actions of the characters and the story certainly were the focus and it made for a gripping novel. This is a stay-up-all-night-at-the-airport book!

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of the author for review purposes.… (plus d'informations)

There were many, many surprises in Twinkle that I did not see coming, which made it very exciting to read. The display of fireworks from space sounded spectacular and I probably would have been upset to have missed it. Until the next day, of course, when people all over the world started going blind.

The way the world discovers the blindness epidemic is a little gruesome, really. Pilots from military and commercial aircraft are the first we hear about, meaning that their planes are going to crash. Then there are the commuter trains.

People in the US are some of the last ones to lose their sight, but they had the advantage of knowing it was coming. Unfortunately, it also reduced the manpower available to the military to about 5 pct of its regular strength. Then, the real intent of the fireworks display rears its ugly head. The country that produced them wants to basically take over the world, and that was the way for weakening other countries' ability to defend themselves.

Mr. Parkinson's time in the military gave him an excellent background to write a book such as Twinkle. And a civilian, such as myself, appreciated the footnotes that explained some of the alphabet soup of military and political acronyms. It saved me from having to go and ask my young sons what the terms meant!

It also showed some of the best and the worst of human nature. When a fortunate (?) few that still have their sight and have escaped the invaders begin to plan how to take back the country, they helped each other and had each other's backs. When a doctor and a researcher find a possible cure and they try to distribute it, people want to take it from them to save their relatives and friends.

Twinkle with get you thinking about exactly what you would do when your country, your family, a pet, etc is attacked or in danger. Every once in a while I had to stop and think. And it could apply to anyone, anywhere in the world. The book happened to be set mostly in the US, but the situation could happen anywhere.

This is a rather lengthy book, but worth every minute. Twinkle is well written, thoroughly researched and will have you on the edge of your seat.

(Disclosure: I received a print copy of this book from the author and publisher in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.)… (plus d'informations)